Yeah, so this blog is pretty much just archival now. It was fun, but I just don't have time to maintain all my social media profiles anymore. You can check out what I'm doing at sarahjaneelliott.blogspot.com and @sarahjanelliott for authory stuff or museum-girl.livejournal.com and @MuseumGirlROM for museumy stuff. I've also got a public facebook as SJ Elliott. See you around!

Final Confession

You may have noticed that it's been a while since I've updated here. The reason is that I've got so many other blogs right now, this one isn't really serving a purpose anymore. I'm keeping it around for the archives, but most of you already know where I'm currently posting my journal entries.

So from now on, all new entries to my personal journal will be mirrored at http://sarahjaneelliott.blogspot.com/.

Ancient Peru Unearthed (Got Kids???)

The ROM's latest travelling exhibition is Ancient Peru Unearthed, and before I go any farther, if you have kids, care for kids, know anybody with kids, check this out.

My friend and sometime boss, Lindsay, nearly killed herself putting together a truly wicked activity guide for families visiting the exhibit, the centrepiece of which is the Become a Sican Lord contest, but due to snafus and miscommunication and no fault of hers, the activity guide has gone largely unnoticed. Meaning there are no entries thus far for the contest.

So, if you have kids who like crafts, go check out the instructions and enter them. Since there are no entries so far, you have a hell of a good chance to win that camera, but more importantly, we really want to get entries in there to show everyone that there is a place for families at the ROM.

So what about the exhibit itself? I really, really enjoyed it. Unlike the last exhibit, this one really tells a story, beginning with the history of the region and the Sican place within it, to a short film discussing the discovery of the lost civilization, to the discovery of the Lord's tomb and the treasures contained within. From there, the methods of production of the absolutely stunning gold pieces are discussed, as well as aspects of metallurgy, the social structure of the Sican society, and their religion and beliefs. The exhibit strikes the right balance of providing information without being overwhelming, but the information is actually provided.

Of course, my favourite part comes right at the midpoint of the exhibit -- the Ancient Peru dig. It had the potential to be fairly dull (five hours doing the same thing), but after putting some thought into it and changing my approach yesterday, I had a really great time. And so, I think, did the kids.

The exhibit places a very heavy emphasis on the importance of archaeology, as looting in the region is a huge problem. Thus, the emphasis on why context of peices is important, and why removing a piece from its resting place destroys the context, and with it, knowledge of how these people lived.

So when kids arrive at the Archaeology Dig, I welcome them to Batan Grande in Peru, and ask them if they'd like to join my archaeology team. As foreman of the dig, I'm in charge, and I give them a little bit on why archaeology is important. Then they have a choice of three sites to dig at -- each site contains different things, and all those things togeter will let us figure out what that place was.

One dig contains llama bones, dung, whole and split firepit rocks, reed mats, clothing, and pots. This is the family hearth.

Another contains shells, beads, ceramics, and a few awls. This is the bead and ceramics workshop.

The biggest (and my favourite) is a large stone dig containing burnt wood, broken crucible fragments coated with gold or silver slag, clay reed tips, gold nuggets (pretty much all of which were stolen during march Break), a copper and silver ornamental disk, a stone tool, and a gold tumi knife. This is the smelting pit, where metal was refined and shaped.

The best part about the dig is that when the kids actually listen to me, they figure all this out for themselves. I spent forty five minutes yesterday with a four year old girl who was amazing. She was able to tell her mom that what she was looking at was a bit of llama poo, which they used in the fire because it had lots of straw in it. She was FOUR.

But most of the kids I had yesterday were great, and I haven't heard kids calling my name so much since Summer Club, eager to share what they found with me.

Which just goes to show, when you go at it with the right attitude, even a repetitive task can be exciting and new each time.

Ad Astra 2007

Here is my first attempt at a con report. As usual, I didn't take nearly as many photos as I wanted, even though my camera was with me pretty much all the time (except at the dance). Ah well.

Pre-Con

My con reports usually don't start here, but this one was worth mentioning. The months, weeks, and especially days spent leading up to the con were thoroughly entangled in The Architect's Dream. What is The Architect's Dream, you may ask? Good question. It was the original title of the Under Cover of Darkness launch game. The original plot was completely different, for the most part. There was still a conspiracy, in which Jana was thoroughly involved, but it had to do with the Idea Library (where writers get their ideas from), a cabal of Secret Librarians, and was discarded because a) it got too complicated, and b) it ended up turning into the Secret Librarian show and drifting away from the anthology. So we returned to our original original idea, which had previously been discarded as making too little sense.

Then came the real work -- preparing all the puzzles and evidence. We were working largely on our own here, communicating through e-mail and IM, with a few strategy sessions at Jana's house. I wrote many of the puzzles and clues furtively during breaks at work, and late at night after I'd gotten all the rest of my own work done.

There was one very memorable group IM chat on Wednesday night, which involved a lot of last-minute puzzle ideas, changes, frantic "no, no, seriously guys, a hole punch! It'll be great!". I also learned a lot about my image editing software -- all the handwriting on the puzzles, save half of the scrawls on the back of the Darwin evidence, were mine, and since I lack a scanner at home, getting a block of text onto a clue often meant writing it on the back of a draft of another clue, photographing it, editing out the blur and paper colour gradations, plonking it onto the clue, and e-mailing it back to Jana for printing.

Perhaps the biggest task was finishing off the Queen of Air and Darkness mask that would play an intergal part in the game. Eventually titled "The Answer Lies Beneath", it took about two and a half months to make. There will be better pictures when I get around to them, but this is what it looks like:

Yes, that's all wire and beads.

Still, I realized at about 2 in the morning on Tuesday or Wednesday, as I was frantically working on one of the pieces of evidence (I can't at this point remember whose it was -- maybe Amanda's), that as tired as I was, I was having so much fun. I totally understand now how the Pixar guys can work until 2 a.m. seven days a week and still love their jobs. I would love to be able to do this stuff for a living.

There was a final strategy/envelope stuffing session on Thursday night, during the blizzard (getting to Jana's was FUN!), during which several details were ironed out, including how to have Darwin present for the game, even though he was no longer able to attend the con. Then, it was home for packing and a quick rest before...

Friday

Alice and I waited at my house on Friday night for Karina, Jana, and Ruth to arrive, during which time I searched rather desperately for a) the case to Casualties of Retail, and b) the CD of Soapbox Heroes. I never did find either (Karina, could I get a copy of yours until mine turns up?), but I did manage to uncover my missing Loreena McKennitt CD, so there was at least some progress. Then the gang arrived, and we all shoehorned in for the short jog to the hotel-in-the-middle-of-nowhere.

We had another cool Myst room, with a wildlife warning on the window (Alice: "Are those lemurs?"), and there was hurried dumping off of stuff before heading out to the lobby. We observed that Leah had been busy -- there were Under Cover warning signs everywhere.

Registration, meeting with friends, sneaking the mask into the Art show (and the clue under the table), and a quick bite to eat in the Green Room later, and we were off to the Under Cover of Darkness info panel. Karina sat inside and delivered a nice friendly chat about the rules, to much friendly giggling and amusement, while Leah and I paced around outside, looking at a piece of paper and our watches and getting increasingly agitated. Jana sneaked by to peek inside, and then we were on. Leah and I burst in, proclaiming that our game had gone beyond what we planned -- our anonymous source failed to show, but we got an e-mail stating that someone was using the anthology to send some sort of message, and we needed to track them down and stop them. The players were given their info packages, and they were off!

15 minutes. Shortest panel ever.

We hooked up with friends to do the party circuit... oh hell, we went to the chocolate parties. Goat cheese and raspberry is my new favourite flavour ever. Chocolate consumed, we retired for bed. Saturday was going to be a long day.

Saturday

Saturday started very, very early, at 7:30 a.m., to replace the panel info posters with the "Stop investigating" warning posters. Throughout the con, Jana got a huge kick out of seeing people's faces as they realized the signs were changing. Then it was off to the green room for tea and breakfast (I was constantly amused by Rob Sawyer going "Look! It's Nebula Award Nominee Karina Sumner-Smith!" everytime Karina walked into a room -- I think Karina was somewhat less amused) before heading to Amanda's reading.

Then it was down to the Polaris launch. I think everyone can agree that the highlight of the launch (aside from the sno cones) was Sarah Niedoba, winner of the International Polar Year's International Student Writing Competition (and also Karina's Mum's student).

Also on the panel are Emily Mah, Anna Paradox (best name ever), and Jane Petrovich, my Fantastic Companions bookmate.

This was also the panel at which Peter Maloney made me laugh so hard I almost cried. Since Darwin was unable to attend the con, we needed a substitute. Fortunately, Darwin's story featured psychics with companion hamsters, so Peter was being mind controlled by an absent Darwin all weekend via the stuffed hamster in his pocket (along with a button labelled "pay to attention to the Nlyx upon my shoulder"). I'm very lucky to have friends who a) are really good sports, and b) are really good at improv. It was also fun to tell people all weekend "Yeah, Peter's acting really wierd... it's almost like he's two different people."

Then it was time for a quick lunch before Alice's first panel ever (this was also Alice's first con ever), "Ongoing Settings, Recurring Characters", moderated by my favourite surrogate con dad, Rick Wilber. Alice did really well, and talked a lot more than I did on my first ever panel. Though she did get the same "okay, now you say something" that I got. I think it's an initiation thing.

Next was the Urban Fantasy panel, and my first ever shot as moderator. I think it went pretty well -- we laughed a lot, got in a dig at the Dresden Files, and discussed exactly what the hell we mean by Urban Fantasy. Added bonus was that the panel was all my friends (Karina, Mark, and Amanda), and Stephanie, who I know and like perfectly well.

This is the point that, unfortunately, Karina got felled by Con Head (or possibly Tom's kickass Nebula brownies), and Alice and I spent the next little while running around and trying to find food for her. Then I took Alice for a proper dinner before retrieving Karina and dropping in on the newsgroup gathering, and then ducking out to sneakily snag the mask from Artist's Alley and get Alice ready for the Masquerade.

At 7, Karina and I headed to the gallery rooms for our panel on the Asimov Award (now Dell Magazine's award, and no, I'm not typing the whole thing out -- someone at some point commented that I had a LOT of panels, and I had to point out that the title of the Dell panel took up three lines on my badge schedule). Unfortunately, as it was an hour before the masquerade, the only people to show were Rick, his friends Matt and Nick (who is responsible for me being at Ad Astra in the first place, in a very roundabout way). So after learning a few Very Interesting Things about the innerworkings of the Award, we adjourned the panel to the bar.

Finally, it was time for the masquerade. There were some great costumes, some really painful moments, and Alice's moment of triumph as she burst out to deliver a warning and got dragged out by stage ninjas. The mask looked fabulous from the audience, and we all agreed that Alice delivered the best performance of the night. This also may have started something -- look for a joint Alice Cooley/Stellar Magpie costume at upcoming cons. We're also promised video and proper photos of the masquerade, so I'll post those as soon as we get them.

After the masquerade, we headed up for some socializing before putting Karina to bed and heading down to the dance. Julie and I were soon joined by Alice, Jihane, Ruth, Lara, Nicole, Rob, and several other familiar faces. I have to say, even if I didn't last until Doctorin' the Tardis, the Dance is still my favourite part of the con. Plus, Alice kicks ass at dancing to Bollywood songs. That is all.

Sunday

Sunday started waaaay too early. After about 5 hours of sleep, we got up to change the posters to the final warning: "You have been warned". Then Julie and Jana treated the Game Designers to breakfast for all our hard work, which was most welcome after a weekend of grazing. Alice got to sleep in, and Karina foiled a waffle poacher. Altogether a very productive breakfast.

I slipped the mask back in to Artist's Alley, and began fielding the first of the game-winning phone calls. Then it was off with Karina to do our joint reading, which seemed to go over well -- Amanda, what did you think of the first part of the story?

Back to the Artist's Alley to retrieve the mask one final time. Cue a moment of sheer and utter panic as the tendrils on the mask became firmly and inextricably tangled in the mesh on my con bag. Fortunately, the Bakka table came equipped with scissors.

Alas, poor con bag.

Finally, it was time for the Under Cover of Darkness book launch, which was everything we hoped it would be. It began with a congenial panel of happy authors and editors (and Jana had kickass hair, if I do say so myself, not to mention the coolest outfit ever). There was much laughter, and happy author dances, and Amanda even coerced Doug Smith into dancing. Which, oh look, I managed to capture on film. Sort of. That blur is Amanda.

Then came the fun part. Jana commented that she didn't understand what all these posters were about, because there was no conspiracy whatsoever. Cue Alice running out to deliver another fantastic performance about the lies, deceit, and ninjas behind the book. Karina and I leaped in to fling accusations, and finally got Amanda to admit to being a member of the Seelie court. Then Doug Smith confessed. Then Jihane, which led to the great battle between the British and the French (Roger Czerneda has a fantastic picture of it, as well as the rest of the con, here). Steve Kotowych protested that we didn't have time for all this, but got strangely silent when we demanded to know how he managed to be on three panels at the same time. Then we wondered how we got all this evidence pointing at Darwin when he wasn't even there, whereupon the Nlyx poked its head around the corner and cackled ominously.

Jana stood up and berated the authors for letting the secret out, and we revealed that she'd been planting all those warnings all over the convention. It was about at this point that we noticed Julie talking on a large black handset. "Ah yes, Marty," she said, "I know it was supposed to stay hidden, but it's out now."

Yes, it was Julie behind the evidence and Alice. So why did she let the stories into the anthology in the first place if she knew the authors were trying to send a message?

Because they were good stories.

End game, end launch (then signings), prizes to the game winners (Jane and Ben, Lorne and Heather, and the team that included fellow Toronto Undergrounder, -- go Tony!) and by the end of the weekend, Bakka only had four copies of the anthology left. I'd say it was a job well done. Next up: The Architect's Dream designers for Fan Achievement: Other, Prix Aurora Awards 2008. Oh yes, there will be lobbying. :o)

There was one final panel for me and Amanda at 2, on Building a Better Alien. Unfortunately, two panelists were missing (though we did manage to rope Lorne Kates and Anna Paradox into staying), and our audience was rather small, but we did manage to come up with a fantastic sentient slime alien.

I staggered back to the Bakka table to find my very tired compatriots giggling over The 300, which lead to many cries of "Let me show you our lovely killing well," "Nice going, Stumblios," and "SPARTAAAAAA!!!!" as we packed up the room. It's Spartastic!

And that was the con. Busier than most, but one of the most fun at the same time. I can wait for the next game.

Jane, Divided

My middle name isn't exactly a secret. In fact, if your acquaintance with me happened via the writing/fandom route, you may not even know that I don't use it.

My father always wanted me to be named Jane, but my mom refused. I was supposed to be Emma, until someone pointed out to her that Emmy Elliott sounded silly, and then I was going to be Jenna, until she decided that didn't sound right either (then they were going to give it to my sibling, until he was born). I'm not sure how they settled on Sarah, but as a compromise, my middle name became Jane.

It was never a hyphenate, and the only time I ever heard "Sarah Jane" was when somebody was mad at me (i.e. "Sarah Jane Elliott, get down here this minute!")

Then came grade three, and the cartoon show Bravestarr. Bravestarr was a space marshall. Bravestarr had some weird transforming anthropomorphic robot horse. The horse had a gun named Sarah Jane, whom he would introduce, loudly and with great vehemence, every time he needed to menace someone. There came a point at which I couldn't walk into a room without someone going "It's Saaaaaaaarah Jaaaaane!!!!" So at some point in the third grade, I decided I would never acknowledge my middle name again, and for a time actually looked into changing it to Katherine.

Then, in second year university, I started attempting to publish my fiction. The problem was, when I egosurfed the TPL catalogue, I discovered that there already is a "Sarah Elliott" who writes children's books on pollution. Also, I felt that "Sarah Elliott" doesn't flow very well, and you almost have to hiccup in the middle to pronounce it or slur it all together ("Sarahlliott"). So I put the Jane back in for publication purposes. And it kind of crept in elsewhere.

It's still one of my names, but it's my middle name, and not actually part of my first name. I don't think anyone calls Diana Wynne Jones "Diana Wynne". I know that nobody calls Jim Gardner "James Alan" or Bob Wilson "Robert Charles". I just happen to have a first and middle name that combine well into a hyphenate.

Which is why I don't exactly get offended when anyone calls me Sarah Jane. Especially if they don't know me very well. But it's distancing -- it's almost like Sarah Jane is the author-type person, but she's not actually me. And this tends to make me subconsciously standoffish with anyone calling me "Sarah Jane". This is also why I will tell you "no" if you ask if you can call me "SJ". You can, however, call me "Sarah".

I have a love/hate relationship with my middle name. I've grown more attached to her after our falling out in elementary school. I'm actually starting to like her again (I admit, Doctor Who helped out a lot in that department). But I still don't like letting her hang around with my friends.

End of Vacation

What already? Where the frell did it go? Okay, so I spent much of it getting my room in order. And while there are still massive amounts of filing to do, that much is done. The floor is... well, as clear as it's gonna get. I know where all my jewellery materials are. I watched a lot of movies. I read a lot of books. Didn't get a lot of correspondence done, or get my head CT from the hospital, or a bunch of other things. But I'm a lot more relaxed than I was a week ago.

So I resolved to get writing done during vacation week. At the beginning of vacation week, my wordcount looked like this:

26,738 / 75,000(35.7%)

at the end of vacation week, my wordcount looked like... um... this:

26,738 / 75,000(35.7%)

So on Saturday morning, Alice and I headed down to Chris's house (Chris is away) for writing weekend in the city. There was good pizza, and chocolate, and Chris's homicidal blinds that favour flinging clips at your eyes at high velocity. And at then end of the weekend, my wordcount looked like this:

41,037 / 75,000(54.7%)

See? I keep saying all I need is lots of time. :o)

Of course, it wasn't all writing. There was also some procrastination. Chris has magnetic Shakespeare fridge poetry. At the beginning of the weekend, her fridge was covered with random pieces. At the end? This. Bear in mind, each "paragraph" is a different poem, scattered in a different place on the fridge. We had some insightful commentary on the use of "beige space."

Signs of the Impending Apocalypse

You know, since the whole winning the lottery thing isn't working out, I totally think we should create our own religion. But forget space aliens and pasta. Our religion will involve chocolate. And possibly David Tennant...

...I wonder if Russell T. Davies had the same idea...

In other non-destruction-of-the-planet type news, thank you Simon, the lovely associate at the Bay, for helping me find wickedly cute shoes in record time (you try having hyperkinetic, overwide feet with a half-size difference between them), being flirty in a non-skeevy way, and giving me 10% off. You rock.

VACATION!!!

So yeah, seven days a week is difficult. You reach a point, eventually, at which you completely lose track of what day of the week it is -- it's just one long neverending stretch of get up, wash self, figure out where you're going today, get home, fall into bed, repeat. This becomes problematic when you have a variable schedule, and results in things like, oh, coming in an hour late for work because the shift starts at 10 on Mondays instead of 11. ::innocent look::

But I've finally managed to coordinate with all four jobs and arranged an actual, honest-to-god Vacation for a week in February. I haven't had an actual vacation since before University. I plan to get some writing done, tidy up my files, put in new bookshelves, and spend at least one day in my pyjamas watching Doctor Who and making jewellery.

Hurray for vacation!

And then, it's back to work. For a while. Things may change -- I just got a fancy letter from York saying that I have an interview for Teacher's College next Satuday. Karina says getting my interview this early in the process is a very good sign. Since Karina is a) smart, and b) knows of what she speaks, I am muchly encouraged. Terrified. But encouraged.

Okay, so my eCard exploded. (And the other one I liked spawned pop-up ads like there was no tomorrow.) So I will now create my own. (Prepare to be dazzled.)

To Sarah,

Friend and business partner, amazing writer and maker-of-sparkly-things, champion of odd cats and geekery:

Happy Birthday!!

Then here, animated frogs dance about, doing little birthday dances while wearing pointy hats and releasing brightly coloured balloons. A bird swoops down -- oh no, will it mean disaster for our fun-loving birthday frogs? Danger approaches, fear and chaos! But no, the bird lands amidst the frogs, and instead of feasting on their green flesh with its pointy black beak, the bird only pulls a little horn from beneath one wing and plays a cheerful birthday tune. Joyful celebration ensues.

Love,Karina

See? :o)

Also, for anyone who can find the place, my birthday snippet is on my newsgroup. Okay, it's also on Julie's, but mine could use the traffic. It's a bit from RAVEN SHADOW, and it's pretty much all anyone is going to see (with the exception of my writing partner) until the book is done, so if you're curious as to what the book is about, check it out. :o)

Geek Alert! And help with Geek Mix 2!

The Geek Alarms have been sounding fast and furious lately, mostly with the release of the new TMNT trailer. As a card-carrying geek, that movie was one of the defining points of my childhood (heavily influencing my secret dream of running away to join the Creature Shop), and as this movie is the creators making a sequel to the first movie and "the bits of the second that didn't suck", I'm cautiously optimistic.

On the slightly more cautionary "will they or won't they rape my childhood" end, they've also posted a new Transformers trailer. Sure, the effects look cool, but given that the man behind the movie is also responsible for The Rock and Armageddon, part of me wants to run screaming.

Also, I'm having a lot of trouble telling if Happily N'Ever After is going to be more like Shrek (i.e. I'll like it), or Hoodwinked (I won't).

And finally, I need suggestions for Geek Mix 2. Geek Mix, for those who can recall, contained such classics as "Doctor Who on Holiday" and "Doctorin' the Tardis", DDR's "Butterfly", "Lazy Sunday", "Neverending Story", "Ghostbusters", "Star Wars Cantina", and other classics of geekery. Well, I now need suggestions for the sequel. These must be songs that not only reveal your geekiness, but are also fun to listen to.

So far, I have "Snakes on a Plane", "Chilly Down", "Turtle Power", and "White and Nerdy". I need more. Lots more. Lemme have 'em.

So Much To Do...

And yet so little time!

The Christmas season is upon us, and with it comes my 7-day work weeks and the never having enough time to do shopping. But I've managed to get almost everything I need for everybody (and come up with suitable alternatives for those for whom I ran out of time), and with the arrival of my birthday, I may actually have time to relax a little.

Time spent with friends last night was great fun, and Stranger than Fiction turned out to be a really enjoyable movie. I was afraid for a moment that it was going to be one of those great movies I can never watch again (I still can't bring myself to re-watch Serenity), but it wasn't, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Though I absolutely cannot wait for Pan's Labyrinth after Christmas....

Tools of Baking

It's that time of year again -- the Christmas Baking, during which I end up trashing the kitchen during a marathon (this year it was 6 hours) spree of baking Christmas shortbread. I ended up with six batches all told -- traditional, sugar & spice (a new experiment), 2 batches of peppermint (the most popular), cocoa (last year's recipe), and chocolate (a new experiment involving bricks of baking chocolate).

However, making all that shortbread (and those who've seen my kitchen know there's not that much space to begin with, given the two required mixing bowls, two cooling racks, and containers in which to store all of these cookies) isn't easy. Especially when one needs to pulverize a box of candy canes into tiny pieces.

Which is why I require some interesting tools while baking. On one of my trips to throw the butter and candy cane boxes in the recycling, still toting one of my tools, I ran into the neighbour bringing in her dog.

"Oh, hello," she says, "Umm... you sounded like you've been busy. What have you been up to?"

"Baking," I say cheerfully. I thought the head-to-toe flour was a good clue.

"Oh." She pauses. "With a hammer?"

I glance down at the large claw hammer in my hand. "Sure." I give her an innocent look. "What do you use?"

A Baroque Christmas

The Toronto Choral Society presents "A Baroque Christmas", Wednesday December 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Eastminster United Church. Tickets are $20, and are available through me (by giving me the money in advance and I'll have the tickets waiting at the door for you) or at the door.

The choir will also be accompanied by the Talisker Players orchestra. There will be trumpets! Ooooooh.

We are also giving a benefit concert for Street Haven Women's Shelter this Sunday, December 10, 2 p.m., at St. Paul's Basilica. The program features selections from the Baroque Christmas concert and the Street Haven Women's Choir program, and admission is donation-based, with all proceeds going to Street Haven Women's Shelter.

Stellar Magpie

Okay, I've got Chris' but if anyone else has Christmas Stellar Magpie commissions they'd like from us, now's pretty much the last chance you have to get them in if they're to be done before the holidays. Smaller things are also way more likely to get done.

Also, if you're ordering anything from the website (and keep an eye on the journal, as there are a couple of pieces not yet on the site that I'll post there if our webmistress can't get them up), Canada Post notes that the last mailing dates guaranteed to arrive before Christmas are December 9 in the U.S., and December 18 in Canada. We can arrange for expedited shipping (such as for things you commission now), but it's more expensive. That doesn't mean we can't do it. ;o)

'Tis the Season

Yep, it's officially December. I have a shiny blue metropass, it's finally calling for snow (which would be a distinct improvement on the rain), and with the arrival of December, I'm allowed to start listening to Christmas music (no, this isn't a hard and fast rule, but in my family, Christmas music before December meant there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe).

My favourite Christmas CD ever is the Eclectic Christmas Mix, which I put together a few years back, and it has brought me no end of joy since. The track listing is as follows:

Honour, Riches - Figgy Duff (just the first cool chanty part).

Welcome Christmas - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Loreena McKennitt

Il Est Bel Et Bon - Hart House Chorus

Christmas Vacation - Mavis Staples

Huron Carol - Exultate Chamber Singers

Once Upon a December - Anastasia Soundtrack

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland

Gaude Te - Mediaeval Baebes

All Alone On Christmas - Darlene Love

Carol of the Bells - Hart House Singers (my former choir)

One More Sleep Till Christmas - Muppet Christmas Carol

What's This? - Nightmare Before Christmas

Balulalow - Hart House Singers

Save All Your Love - Jon Anderson

Lily - Kate Bush

It Feels Like Christmas - Muppet Christmas Carol

Rudolph - The Crystals

Coventry Carol - Charlotte Church

Kidnap the Sandy Claws - Nightmare Before Christmas

Nutcracker Overture - Tchaikovsky

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love

The Bells of Christmas - Loreena McKennitt/The Santa Clause

Christmas Day - Dido (this one is getting swapped out on this year's edition of the CD)

This Little Babe - Hart House Singers

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLachlan

Snow - Loreena McKennitt

And speaking of music, Erin and I went down to try to see Wicked last night. As you'll recall from my previous post, I tried to get people to help with the lottery, as we'd never been able to get tickets before. Well, nobody showed up, but that was okay. Mine was the second name called. Erin's was fourth.

We found it strangely hilarious that both our names were called (Erin's repeatedly and loudly until she ran from the box office to the top of the stairs to tell the girl with the megaphone that she could draw someone else because I'd already got her ticket). And we kept laughing up until we were seated in the box. And box seats? Pretty sweet. We could see facial expressions! And costume detail! I mean, I knew Elphaba changed dresses several times over the course of the show, but as they're all theme and variations on black, you'd never know it from the mezzanine. But more of that later -- this is not the Wicked post.

So after a much needed night out after getting all my teacher's college applications in, we came home to Miles the cat, whose mode of transportation really is hilarious. We've watched video of other three-legged cats, but none of them do the butt-dragging thing that Miles does. So here you go.

A Wicked Proposal

Okay, so here's the deal:

Erin and I want to try to win cheap Wicked seats tonight, but we need help.

If you're willing to come down to the Victoria Street entrance of the Canon theatre tonight after 6:00, enter your name in the draw for 2 tickets, and wait around until they draw the names at 6:30, there's a bag of Godiva chocolates in it for you if you win and give us the tickets (yes, I will give you the money to pay for them). If I win, the chocolates get shared around with everyone who helped out.